


A Little Body Heat Among Friends

by Valkyriav



Category: Naruto
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Platonic Cuddling, Sharing a Bed, Shino Week 2021, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:54:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28838865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valkyriav/pseuds/Valkyriav
Summary: Aburames run cold. Shino was no exception. Hinata and Kiba help warm him up.Day 2 of Shino Week 2021: Winter / Friends and Family
Relationships: Aburame Shino & Akamaru, Aburame Shino & Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino & Hyuuga Hinata & Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino & Inuzuka Kiba
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30
Collections: Written stories for Shino Week 2021





	A Little Body Heat Among Friends

Here Shino was, shivering in Team 8's winter-proofed tent along the border of the snowy Land of Iron in the middle of night. His cloak and layers upon layers of coats had done little to keep out the cold during the day. He could feel his sluggish beetles as they collected around his core, absorbing as much heat from him as they could. As he traveled he had lagged behind and so his team had to wait up on him as he fought his clumsy limbs. And now his thick wool sleeping bag wasn't quite doing the job he was hoping. He still couldn't feel his toes.

He glanced at his sleeping teammates. Hinata looked snug as a bug (that expression made no sense - Shino was the buggiest of them all and he was _not_ snug) and Kiba looked absolutely comfortable with Akamaru curled around him - one of his arms was even poking out of his sleeping bag like he had no care in the world that they were camped outside along the coldest region of the continent in the middle of winter.

Shino was painfully jealous.

He hated the cold.

All Aburames ran a little colder than normal for humans. It was part of the reason why they always wore thick coats, even in the middle of the summer. Something about the introduction of the hive did something with an Aburame's core body temperature, keeping the heat centered at the core while their poor limbs suffered. The hive didn't care for the cold either, and could only be outside of Shino's body for minutes at a time in an icy place like this before they would perish.

Why in the world he was picked for this mission, he wasn't sure. At least their mission destination would be much warmer than here; the border of the Land of Iron was just a point of passing. However, that still made him near useless if they were ambushed along the way.

While Shino wallowed in his self-pity at his Aburame weakness, Shino felt his nose tickle.

Shino unsuccessfully tried to suppress the sudden sneeze. It came out muffled and explosive - and he lurched up against his sleeping bag from the force. All three of his teammates woke up with a startle.

"Shit, Shino, you scared the crap out of me," Kiba yawned, rubbing his eyes.

Akamaru huffed before laying his head back down across his folded paws.

"Sorry," Shino said.

"Were you still awake, Shino?" Hinata mumbled.

"Yeah. Too cold."

"You've been cold all day," Kiba said. "You still cold?"

"Yeah."

"Shit," Kiba sighed. "Alright then. Make some room."

"Huh?"

"I said move your shit."

"Why?"

"Damn, just do it already. I'm going to help warm you up."

Shino complied, moving his backpack away from his side and it shoved it above his head. Kiba slipped out of his sleeping bag then, drowsily dragged it over to Shino, and didn't even ask as he unzipped Shino's sleeping bag to connect it to his own. It let in more cold air and Shino couldn't help but shiver. But then Kiba slipped in, zipped the sleeping bag up tight, threw his arm over Shino's chest without a care, and pressed his furnace-hot body to Shino's side as he shifted to get comfy.

The heat was absolutely heavenly.

Hinata shuffled her sleeping back up to Shino's other side. "I can help too. Only if you want, that is."

Shino made a grunt of approval.

Hinata did the same - and connected her sleeping bag to the other side of Shino's. When she was done she slipped in and zipped it up, before curling up at his side, head resting near his shoulder. She was nice and warm too.

"Is this okay?" she timidly asked him.

"Yes. It's nice," Shino said.

"Damn, you sleep as rigid as a board. Relax a little, will ya!" Kiba complained.

Shino's eyebrow twitched in irritation. "You smell."

"Quit being an ass. I smell fine."

"Akamaru smells better than you and he only gets bathed once a month."

"Do I smell bad, Shino?" Hinata asked worriedly.

"No. You always smell nice."

"Quit showing favoritism!"

"I am only speaking the truth."

Kiba shifted his feet, brushing them briefly up against Shino's legs before he violently recoiled them away. "Fuck! Your feet are ice cold, man."

"What else did you expect? I said I was cold. You see, an Aburame's core body temperature is-"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it," Kiba huffed in annoyance. "C'mere, Akamaru."

Akamaru stood up, paced over to them, and flopped himself on top of all of their legs with a grunt. Even through the thick wool sleeping bags Shino could already feel Akamaru's warmth radiate through to his freezing toes.

Now that they were finally all settled, Shino was so much more self-conscious of the fact that he was sandwiched between his entire team. While he and his team were relatively close and comfortable with each other, cuddling up to each other like this was new. It surprised him how immediately Kiba and Hinata were comfortable with jumping straight to sharing body heat. Shino did his best to hide his shyness, and was thankful that the darkness hid the blush he could feel crawling up his neck. While the closeness of this degree was foreign to him (he had never slept in the same bed with anyone before), he decided he really liked it. And not just for the physical warmth it provided him.

"Kiba. Hinata. Thank you." He really meant it.

"Ah, it's nothin'," Kiba shrugged off.

"You're welcome, Shino. I'm always happy to help," Hinata said.

Shino couldn't help but smile. He was so lucky to have such caring friends.

"Um, I guess we ought to try and sleep now, huh?" Hinata said.

"Probably," Kiba agreed.

"Well, goodnight, Shino. Goodnight, Kiba," Hinata said.

"Night," Kiba said.

"Goodnight," Shino said.

Shino fell asleep fast and had warm, pleasant dreams.

**Author's Note:**

> I think this is one of the shortest works I've written! I guess they say fanfic can be either a full course meal, fast food, or just a light snack. Think this fic is just a light popcorn snack. :)


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